My thoughts on the Phillies season.

Spring Training: The Phils get pounded early as they lose to the Astros, 10-3.

The Phils get crush as they lose to the Astros, 10-3.

The Astros took an early 1-0 lead in the first as, with two men on, and with one man out, J.D. Martinez hits an RBI ground out, 6-3, knocking in Jordan Schafer, who had started the game off with a single, stopped at second base on Jose Altuve’s single, then went to third on Vance Worley’s wild pitch. The Astros increased their lead in the second as, with runners on the corners, and with one man out, Jason Castro hits an RBI single, scoring Jed Lowrie, who had earlier walked, then went to third on Brett Wallace’s single, giving the Astros a 2-0 lead, while sending Wallace, who had just singled, up to second base. The Astros then made it a 3-0 lead in the fourth as, with two men on, and with one man out, Schafer hits an RBI double, knocking in Wallace, who was earlier safe on a force out, 3-6, wiping out at second base Matt Downs, who had earlier singled, then moved up to second base on Castro’s single, while sending Castro, who had just singled, on to third. Two batters later, with two men still on, and now with two men out, the Astros busted the game open as Brian Bogusevic reached base on a throwing error by third baseman Kevin Frandsen, allowing Castro to score, making it a 4-0 Astros’ lead, before Schafer scored, after first stopping at third base, to make it 5-0 Astros. The Astros then made it a 6-0 lead as, after Bogusevic had stole second base, Martinez brought him home as he hits an RBI double. The Astros added to their lead in the sixth as, with a man on second, and with one man out, Martinez hits an RBI double, his second of the game, scoring Marwin Gonzalez, who had earlier walked, then moved up to second base on pinch hitter Brandon Barnes’ ground out, 3-unassisted, giving the Astros a 7-0 lead. Four batters later, with the bases loaded, via a walk to Brian Bixler, and a single to Jonathan Singleton, moving both runners up a base, and with two men out, pinch hitter Diory Hernandez hits a two-run single, knocking in Martinez and Bixler, giving the Astros a 9-0 lead, while sending Singleton up to second base. The Astros then made it a 10-0 lead as pinch hitter Carlos Corporan hits an RBI single, scoring Singleton, while sending Hernandez up to second base. The Phils finally got on the scoreboard in the eighth as, with runners on second and third, and with tw0 men out, Lou Montanez hits a two-run double, knocking in Freddy Galvis, who had earlier walked, then stopped at third base on Scott Podsednik’s double, and Podsednik. who had just doubled, cutting the Astros’ lead down to 10-2. The Phils then made it a 10-3 Astros’ lead in the ninth as Hector Luna hits a lead-off home run, his first home run of the spring. But that would be the final score as Jose Valdez ended the game by getting Sebastian Valle to fly out to left for the final out.

Vance Worley (0-1, 9.oo) took the lost as he pitched two innings, giving up two runs on five hits, a walk and a wild pitch. Pat Misch pitched two innings, giving up four runs, only one of which was earned, on five hits and a walk, while striking out a batter. Jonathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk, while striking out two. Dontrelle Willis pitched two and a third innings, giving up four runs on three hits and two walks. B.J. Rosenberg pitched an inning and a third, giving up a hit while striking out two. Chad Qualls and Michael Stutes pitched two scoreless innings, giving up a walk (Qualls), while striking out a batter (Stutes) between them. Bud Norris (1-0, 0.00) got the win as he pitched three scoreless innings, walking a batter. Kyle Weiland, Lance Pendleton and Jorge De Leon combined for four scoreless innings, giving up two hits (Weiland) and two walks (Weiland (1), Pendleton (1)) between them, while strking out three (Weiland (2), Pendleton (1)). Fernando Rodriguez pitched an inning, giving up a run on two hits and a walk, while striking out two. Jose Valdez pitched an inning, giving up a run on a hit.

The Phils had only five hits in the game, a single by Shane Victorino, a double by Scott Podsednik, a two-run double by Lou Montanez, a home run by Hector Luna and a single by Erik Kratz. The Phils also had four walks, as the offense was kept under control by Astros’ pitching.

The Phils’ (2-3) next game, another home game at Bright House Field, will be an afternoon game with the Pirates (2-2) tomorrow afternoon. The game will start at 1:05 pm EDT.

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